


Who Ya Gonna Call?

by The_Heroes_Time_Forgot



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Other Characters have smaller roles so I didn’t see a point to tagging them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:05:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Heroes_Time_Forgot/pseuds/The_Heroes_Time_Forgot
Summary: Because I loved Ant-man and The Wasp so much for so many reasons, especially because of the character of Ava, I needed more. So I wrote some. Enjoy!





	1. Unusual Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Because I loved Ant-man and The Wasp so much for so many reasons, especially because of the character of Ava, I needed more. So I wrote some. Enjoy!

_‘An alley. How does this shit happen in an alley?! It’s a fucking alley, that’s why!’_ James thought to himself, checking to either side of the entrance to said alley, making sure the coasts was clear, before turning back and taking the hand of the woman in the light grey skintight suit and mask he’d just met.

“C’mon. Let’s go.” He said, pulling her along with him. 

“Where are we going?” She asked, checking their surroundings, and holding one hand over a slowly reddening spot on her torso. Her voice was muffled and sounded slightly altered than what it should’ve been, but he just chocked that up to the mask and her being in pain.

“My apartment. You’re hurt, and I’m going to help you.” He told her, “Don’t worry, it’s not too far.”

“But... you don’t know me?” She seemed hesitant. He stopped, turning on his heel to face her.

“So what? You’ll bleed out if you don’t get that cleaned out and stitched up, and judging by this...” He waved his free hand, gesturing to her suit, “... I’m guessing that going to a hospital is out of the question. Therefore, we’re going to my apartment so I can help you.”

She didn’t move for a moment, then nodded, and James continued to lead her to his building.

—————————————————————————

They got to his building ten minutes later. The lady in the suit wasn’t doing very well, not being able to move very fast and hardly speaking more than two words at a time.

James lead her into the lobby which, thankfully, was empty. The door man must’ve been on break. That was probably a good thing because James really didn’t feel like explaining why he was all but carrying a young woman who was bleeding out of a stab wound through the lobby and tracking blood everywhere. 

He guided her to the elevator, leaning her against the wall as he selected his floor.

She slumped over sideways, falling against the elevator wall.

James stood her back up, letting her to lean on him for support, “Hey, hey, don’t you go dying on me now. I don’t know where to put a body.”

She laughed weakly behind the mask, then winced as the action strained her wound.

James smiled sheepishly, “Sorry...”

The doors opened to his floor, and he thanked whatever deity was out there that he’d chosen an apartment close to the elevator. 

He unlocked the door quickly and brought her inside, settling her down on the couch before going back to close the door. Then he ran down the hall to his room to try and find his first-aid kit.

He found it in his closet. He was fortunate enough that he’d hadn’t had any need of it for some time, so it was fully stocked. 

Running back out to his living room, the woman was still sitting on his couch, (which was now partially red from her lying there), trying to keep pressure on her wound. 

He set the kit on his coffee table, “You need to move your hand, okay?” He told her, and she did so, revealing a very deep gash in her side.

“Doesn’t look like it hit anything too important, otherwise you’d probably be dead by now. Lucky you.”

She rested her head back on the armrest of the couch, “Yeah. Lucky me.” Her voice was sarcastic, but too weak to really portray that.

“I need to get a better look. Do you have anything on under this suit?” He asked. 

She nodded. 

James grabbed the pair of scissors from the kit and went to start cutting, when she grabbed his arm.

“I need to see what I’m up against here, so unless your super suit has a zipper on the back, I need to cut it off, okay?” Her grip was still on his wrist, “I’ll buy you whatever you need for a new one, just let me make sure you live first.”

She paused, then nodded slowly, letting him go. 

He cut the top part of her suit off at the waist below the wound, and a few additional cuts later, she was free of the suit and was sitting in a baggy grey shirt and black under armour pants, while her mask was still on her head.

“Do you mind if I...” James started, gesturing to her shirt and his scissors.

She nodded, and he cut a large enough piece out of the shirt for him to get access to her cut. Her slightly darker skin was pale from blood loss.

“Alright, let’s see what we’re dealing with here.” He said to himself, and began to examine her cut, earning a hiss of pain from her, “Sorry...”

He let go, grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol from his kit.

He poured a small bit onto a cloth. He looked at her, “This is gonna hurt a bit.”

She laughed dryly, “What else is new?”

He started to disinfect her wound, and she gasped as he did so, gripping the cushion under her and probably gritting her teeth, though James couldn’t know for sure. 

He finished with the cloth, then pulled out a curved needle attached to some thin stitching, “This might hurt a bit too, though not as much.”

She didn’t say anything, just nodded slowly.

Her wound, thankfully, wasn’t as deep as he’d originally thought, so it was likely to heal fairly quickly. Once he finished stitching her up, he wrapped a roll of gauze bandages around her, and secured it with medical tape. He sat back against the coffee table and breathed a sigh of relief once his work was done, “There... that should keep you from colouring my couch any more.”

Her hand hovered over his handy work, delicately touching it.

“Those stitches should dissolve in about two weeks. You should have almost full movement by then... I think.” He explained. 

“Are you a doctor of some kind?” She asked, her masked face turning to him. The red eyes seemed to burn into him.

James shook his head, “Hell no. I’m a writer. Freelance, but still. I only know how to do that from a survival camp I went to when I was a teenager.” He chuckled, “Seems like it was worth it though. Never would’ve expected that I’d actually have to use that skill one day, but...” he shrugged, “Here we are.”

A few minutes passed and neither of them said anything. Then the woman broke the silence, “Thank you. For your help. You are very kind. But I need to leave now.”

She tried to get up off the couch, but James stopped her, “Whoa, whoa! What do you think you’re doing? I literally just stitched you up, you try and leave now, you’ll tear them and all my hard work, along with my couch, will be ruined.”

She let out a sigh, “Fine. Then what am I to do?”

“You can stay here tonight. You can take my room, I’ll sleep... well I was gonna say I’ll sleep on the couch but... you kinda bled all over it so I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I can’t make you do that.” She tried to protest.

“You’re not. I’m making you stay.” He told her, “Now don’t try to get up for about another hour. I’ll go make the bed for you.”

Another sigh, then she nodded, wriggling slightly to make herself more comfortable on the couch. 

—————————————————————————

An hour later the woman woke up from a nap she hadn’t know she’d been taking, and slowly sat up on the couch. James was at his kitchen table writing a new story he’d been working on for a few days. He’d been glancing at her every few minutes as she slept, making sure she was alright. 

A small amount of red had been creeping onto the bandage for the last ten minutes before she’d woken up, but wasn’t bad enough to start worrying about it.

“Hey, glad you’re up. Take it slow okay, don’t push yourself too much.” He told her.

She looked at him, the mask still boring into his soul. 

“What’s your name?” She asked, tilting her head to her right ever so slightly. 

“James. James Franklyn. With a ‘Y’ instead o an ‘I’ for some weird reason.” He responded, “And yours?”

She just stared at him, unmoving and quiet. James took the hint, “Okay, don’t want to tell me your name, that’s alright. I understand. Well, what can I call you?”

Her answer was simple and slightly unnerving:

“Ghost.”

“Ghost...” James echoed, in awe and intimidation at the same time.

Ghost looked down at her bandage, then at him, “Can I use your shower?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Just inside my room, only door to the left.” He told her, pointing down the hallway.

She got up and walked down the hall, grabbing the cut up remains of her suit as she passed it.

James watched her until she was out of sight, then turned his attention back to his work, making new additions based on his new encounter.


	2. Unusual Introductions Pt.2

Ava walked into James’ room, closing the door behind her. She swiftly removed her mask, running her hands through her dark hair. 

Bill was going to be worried sick. She’d been gone for hours now, and had no way to contact him because this had never happened before. 

She didn’t have his cell phone or house phone number, and she couldn’t try his office because she’d have to give her name to his secretary, which would’ve been fine, but she didn’t know if James was listening from the other side of the door, or on the other line. 

She looked at her hand. Solid, for now. It was out of sheer willpower that she was keeping herself that way and not phasing in and out of a solid form. The suit had been helping, but then he had to cut it off in order to fix her.

 _’Stupid, Ava! You went after a heavily guarded tech genius with absolutely no preparation, and you expected to get out unharmed? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’_ She yelled at herself in her thoughts, glaring angrily at nothing in particular. 

She closed her eyes, took a couple deep breaths, and her mind relaxed. She opened her eyes again, _’It was lucky for James to walk by and notice me. Though I was expecting just to be taken to a hospital, not a strangers apartment, never mind then having said stranger stitch up my injury and allow me to stay here for the night...’_

The corners of Ava’s mouth twitched upwards momentarily, _’I suppose he could be a bit more proof of good people still being in this world... just hidden away in the strangest of places.’_

She let out a sigh, pulling off her now ruined shirt.

She stared at it, at the large cut in the fabric and the even larger dried blood stain. She crumpled it up, tossing it to the other side of the room.

Ava walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and locking it.

————————————————————————

Stepping out of the bathroom about half an hour later, Ava felt much better than she had before. Refreshed and clean.

She noticed a small piece of paper on the bed that hadn’t been there before, and that the closet door had been opened.

She picked up the note:

_Take anything you want from the left side of the closet._  
_Or the right. I don’t mind_  
_-James_

Ava put down the note as she approached the closet. The left side was full of woman’s attire. In it were some button up shirts, some skirts and dresses, but mostly plain t-shirts and jeans.

The other side was very clearly James’ side of the closet. It had much more t-shirts than anything else, with maybe half a dozen dress shirts and pants. 

Ava grabbed a t-shirt from the left side. It had a small picture of a cartoon ghost on it going “Boo!” that she thought was cute and seemed to fit the scenario. One pair of well fitting jeans made it into the mix and then she was done. 

Putting her helmet back on and tucking her hair into it, she opened the bedroom door and walked back down the hall.

————————————————————————

James looked up from his article when he heard the door open, and watched as Ghost walked out, still wearing her helmet, but now dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

“Hey. Feeling better?” He asked, getting a nod in response. He gestured to her new outfit, “Hope those fit okay? They were all I had.”

She looked down at the clothes she had gotten out of the closet, “Yes. They fit fine. Are you sure I shouldn’t go? Your wife or girlfriend or whoever might be angry that I’m wearing her clothes and sleeping in your bed.”

James shook his head, chuckling lightly, “Ex-girlfriend, don’t worry about it. She called it off a few weeks ago and left some of her crap here. I just haven’t gotten around to getting rid of it yet, so you’re good.”

She tilted her head at him, “Not over her?”

“Oh, no. I’m definitely over her.” He said, shaking his head and putting his hands behind his head for a brief moment before lowering them and pointing to the screen of his laptop, “I’ve just been too busy with this.”

Ghost came over to him, walking around to see the screen. 

On the screen was a report on The Sokovia Accords and what they meant for The Avengers and other, unrelated heroes.

“See, with supers like the Avengers, it takes a different role than it does with, say, you.”

She looked at him, and even with her face hidden by her mask James could tell she was confused.

“Like, when it comes to someone like Captain America, Iron Man, or War Machine, they’ve all already been exposed to the spotlight on who they really are. Their names, personality types, lifestyle, stuff like that. Whether it was done by their own means or not isn’t taken into account because the information is already public knowledge.”

He paused, allowing the information to sink in before continuing, “But when it comes to a super like you, or that Spider-Guy in New York, or anyone else who might apply, the public knows nothing about you, not even your names. The Accords gives you an ultimatum to either reveal your identity to the world, or give up being a hero all together.”

“What I’m trying to do is to address this in a way that gets people to think twice about the Accords. Not to get them to oppose it necessarily, just to get them to give it a second thought, rather than just accepting it and moving on.”

“Interesting.” Ghost praised, leaning in to read the article.

Her mask was right beside us face, and he could hear her breathing through it. 

“If you’re willing...” He started, turning to face her, “I’d like to interview you for this. Get the perspective of someone who it directly effects. Would that be okay?”

She nodded, “Yes. But not tonight. I should be resting, wouldn’t you say?”

James mentally kicked himself, “Oh, shit yeah. You should be, how’re you’re bandages?”

She lifted part of her shirt, revealing her bandages to be more red than white. 

James changed her bandages for her, gently cleaning the closed wound once more before wrapping another roll around her.

She stood up from her chair slowly,leaning on it for balance, “Thank you. For everything. Have a good night.”

James smiled, “G’night to you too Ghosty.”

Even from behind the mask he could’ve sworn she was smiling as she walked down the hall to his room.

James let out a long breath, typing into his document. Adding a new gap between paragraphs. 

_Interview with a Super: Ghost_

He stared at the words on the screen for a few minutes, then closed his laptop, and started figuring out how he was going to sleep.


	3. Goodbye...?

The next morning James woke up on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and for a split second forgot why he was there.

He was quickly reminded when he sat up, and saw the now dried blood stains on his couch.

“That’s gonna have to get thrown out... or burned...” he muttered to himself, picking at the corner of his eyes. He opened his eyes fully, and just caught a glimpse of Ghost showing off why she called herself that. 

Her form seemed to shift places, until her whole body turned invisible, and James knew she was gone.

He blinked several times, but nothing changed.

“... Along with my brain apparently.” He groaned, then got up off the floor, making his way to his room, to see if he’d hallucinated Ghost leaving or not. 

The answer was no, he hadn’t. She’d actually disappeared into thin air. 

He walked back out to his living room, and was about to go to the kitchen to make a very strong cup of coffee when he spied a note on his coffee table.

He picked it up and read it. 

_James._

_Sorry about having to leave so quickly. I have people who are probably worried enough as it is with me not going home last night._  
_Thank you for letting me to stay in your home, and for stitching me up and probably saving my life. I owe so much more than an interview._  
_Good luck on your article._  


_-Ghost_

“She signed her name as ‘Ghost’. That’s... odd.” James thought aloud, rereading the note as he walked to the kitchen.

One cup of coffee later he was back in front of his computer screen, staring at the words he’d typed the night before.

He sighed, then typed in a word at the end of the title:

_Interview with a Super: Ghost - Postponed_

He closed the laptop, staring into space, trying to find answers to questions he didn’t know how to ask.


	4. Unexpected Visit

A week passed after Ghost’s sudden departure, with no sign of her anywhere.

Then two. 

Then four. 

Five weeks passed by, and James had almost concluded that he’d never see her again, and that he should probably try to find someone else to interview. 

He was at his table, like normal, a pen hanging out of his mouth as he stared at the words he’d written over a month ago on the screen with a certain intensity

His hand hovered over the backspace key, but he was unable to convince himself to press it.

With a frustrated sigh, he shut the laptop and went to turn off the lights to go to sleep for the night.

Of course, he didn’t sleep. Not for long anyway.

_*tap tap tap*_

He was roused by a light tapping on his bedroom window. Not registering it fully and assuming it was probably just a pigeon or something of that nature, he rolled over to face away from the window.

_*thump thump thump*_

The tapping grew a bit louder, and James eyes opened partially, staring at the wall, “Go away bird...” he mumbled to himself.

_*Thump*_  
_*Thump*_  
_*Thump*_

James made a sound and rolled over to see what was causing the noise. 

Sitting on his windowsill next to the fire escape, was Ghost, back in her full suit and mask. She was leaning against the frame of the window and tapping with her right hand while her left was curled around herself. 

James sprung out of bed, immediately awake and alert, and opened the window as quickly as he could. 

Ghost fell inside as he opened it, and James just barely had time to catch her before she hit the floor. He set her down gently. 

She wasn’t bleeding, not that he could see, but as he tried to move her left arm to get a better look, she cried out in pain. 

“Jeezus, Casper, you have a run in with Pac-Man or something?” He asked, throwing in a small joke to try and hide his fear for her.

She laughed weakly, stopping midway to gasp in pain, “No... jokes. Please.”

“Alright. Sorry. But seriously, what did this to you?”

“Big... guy... real big. Snuck up on me.” She said, breathing erratically. 

“What hurts?” James asked, checking as best he could with her suit and mask still on.

“Everything...”

“Okay then. What hurts most?”

Her right hand weakly raised to point to her head, then fell back to her side.

“Alright. I’ve gotta remove your mask then, okay?”

She said nothing, giving him a thumbs up instead. 

He slowly removed her mask, undoing the fasteners and opening it to reveal Ghost’s face.

She was beautiful, James had to admit. But he didn’t have time to focus on that at the moment. He gently placed two fingers on either side of her neck, trying to find any irregularities. He wasn’t entirely sure what irregularities he was supposed to be looking out for, but figured he’d know them when he found them.

He found nothing broken or misaligned, so he concluded she most likely had a concussion rather than a broken neck.

“Okay, Ghost, I need to move your arm so I can check your ribs and stomach and that, alright?”

She shook her head as best she could, her eyes wide.

“I know it’s gonna hurt, but trust me, it’s a lot better alternative than dying.”

She shut her eyes tightly and James noticed her jaw tighten as well. Then she nodded, and he moved her left arm out of his way. 

She screamed through a closed mouth, a terrible sound that James never wanted to hear again. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Checking her stomach, he found no signs of internal bleeding, and no broken ribs, though a few tender spots were definitely there. Breathing a sigh of relief, he tried to move her arm back into the position it was in before, only to discover that her shoulder wasn’t in its socket.

“Son of a bitch.” He cursed under his breath, “Ghost, you’re shoulder is dislocated. I need to reset it, okay?”

She nodded, trying to speak but not being able to form the words loud enough.

“What?” He asked, preparing to pop her shoulder back into place.

“Ava...” She managed, “My name... it’s Ava.”

Had the circumstances been better, he would’ve grinned at the new information. Instead, he took it in stride, “Well, Ava, This is really gonna hurt unfortunately. Here..” he grabbed his wallet off of his nightstand, “Bite down on this. It’s better than your tongue.”

She put his wallet between her teeth. 

“You ready?” He asked, and she nodded.

“Alright, on three. One...” then he forced it back into place, creating a sickening cracking noise and earning another muffled scream from Ava.

She opened her mouth, and his wallet fell to the floor, the imprint of her teeth now moulded into it.

“That... wasn’t... three.” She practically growled.

“I know. I know. Okay, what else is hurting?” He asked, trying to figure out what to tackle next.

“Ankle.” Ava told him, her pained voice barely above a whisper, “Right ankle.”

James checked it, putting light pressure on it. He was relieved to find that it wasn’t broken, just sprained.

“Okay. Looks like nothing else is seriously hurt, thankfully. I’m gonna put you on the bed, okay?”

She whispered something too quiet to hear. 

“What was that?”

“Not... on... a first... date...” She said through a breathy laugh.

James grinned as he lifted her up bridal style and carried her over to the bed, “Oh, you’re the one with the jokes now, huh?”

Setting her down carefully, he grabbed his first aid kit, taking two short, thin pieces of wood and the medical tape out of it.

He placed the wood on either side of her ankle, and wrapped the tape around it several times, making a splint to keep it still.

“Gimme one second.” He said before dashing out of the room, and coming back in moments later with a package of frozen peas wrapped in a dish cloth. He placed it on top of Ava’s ankle, and moved a pillow under it for good measure, “This should keep it from swelling up too bad.”

She nodded, her breathing slowly returning to a normal level.

James sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, “So it takes a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, a sprained ankle and you getting your ass kicked for you to tell me your name?”

“Well you did save my life. And I knew you’d be able to help, so I thought it was a fair trade.” She told him, a small smile creeping onto her face.

“So, Ava, do you have a last name? Or just ‘Ava’?”

“Starr.” She said, clearing her throat, “Ava Starr. With two R’s, for some reason.”

James smiled, and finally was able to take in the details of her features. Her slightly darker skin, and her brown hair that fell down in waves and was a little frizzy from her helmet. Her eyes caught him most though. He was used to hearing her voice while looking at five glowing red eyes on her mask, but now he saw two, beautiful bright eyes with a colour that reminded him of a jewel on an old necklace his grandmother used to wear.

_’Note to self, don’t tell her that the first thing I thought of when I saw her eyes was old jewelry...’_ James said to himself.

“Why are you staring? Do I have some blood on my face?” She asked, reaching up to check. She had an accent he hadn’t quite noticed before, possibly because of her only ever speaking through her mask. He couldn’t quite place what it was either, it sounded English, but like it had a touch of something else that he couldn’t identify.

“James? Are you alright?” She asked, gently nudging him with her non-injured foot.

He shook himself out of his trance, “Hm? Oh, yeah. It’s just... didn’t really get a good look at you until now, what with all the screaming, and the pain and you wearing a mask.”

“Well... mask’s off now... I look different than you expected?” She teased.

“Kind of. But I think that’s probably the bruising and not you.” 

She rolled her eyes and smiled as she scoffed.

James shifted closer to her, “Ava, what happened? What did you do to have this happen to you?”

She looked at him again, seriousness and sadness in her expression. 

“I’m guessing you’re gonna make me stay here again, aren’t you?” She asked, dodging the question by changing the topic. James decided not to press further for the time being.

“Yes, I am. Because you are definitely not gonna make it home on that ankle. You probably couldn’t get down the hallway on it, and how you got all the way up my fire escape I have no idea.” 

Ava sighed, “Fine. Can I use your phone? Please?”

James nodded, grabbing his cell out of his pocket and putting it on the phone app. He grinned like an idiot as he handed it to her.

“What?” Ava asked, a small laugh escaping her at the sight of his expression.

He stifled a laugh. He said what had crossed his mind as he handed her the phone, “Who ya gonna call?”

She rolled her eyes playfully, a small chuckle coming from her lips as she typed the number into her phone and held it to her ear, “You just gonna keep making Ghost puns?”

“Yep.”

She shook her head as she listened to the phone ring once. 

Twice. 

Thr-

_”Hello?”_

“Bill?”

_”Speaking.”_

Ava glanced at James before stating the code her and Bill had agreed on, “Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Sue”

James gasped happily at the reference like a child that had just heard that he was going to Disneyland.

The other line was quiet for a few moments, then Bill answered.

_”Jesus, Ava. It’s the middle of the night, where the hell are you?”_

“You remember that guy I told you about?James? The one who found me when I got stabbed?”

_”The young man who saved your life, yes I remember. Why?”_

“I’m kinda over at his place again...”

Ava heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

_”Can you put him on, please?”_

“Uh. Yeah... here.” She said, then handed the phone to James.

“This is James.”

_”Hello, Mr. Franklyn. My name is Bill Foster. I’m a professor at San Francisco University.”_

“Oh, hi, Dr. Foster. I actually know who you are. I took your class a few years back. The physics class that has really just become the ‘Quantum Physics’ class.”

James could almost hear Bill’s smile on the the other end of the call, _”Good to know someone paid attention.”_

Neither one of them said anything for a moment.

_“How bad is she hurt?”_

James looked over at Ava, who was trying to reach the back of her suit with her good arm to unzip it.

“Dislocated left shoulder, badly sprained right ankle, several tender spots and bruises on her body and I’m thinking at least a minor concussion.”

_”Christ.”_ Bill cursed, _”She’s okay though? She’s alert and responsive?”_

“Oh, yeah. Yeah she doing great. A lot better than when she got here.”

_”Good. Glad to hear it. Thank you for helping her. Both times.”_

“It’s my pleasure, sir.”

_“Can you put Ava back on, please?”_

James wordlessly handed his phone back to her. Then, just as a quietly, he gestured to the back of her suit, and mouthed “Want some help?”

She nodded as she put the phone up to her ear again, “I’m back.”

_”Ava, I’m not going to ask you what you were thinking. We can discuss that when you get back. But you do need to get back. Your suit will only help so much.”_

“I’m not going to be able to get back tonight. I can’t walk and James doesn’t have a car, I don’t think.”

_”Then I’m coming to get you. What’s the address.”_

“No, Bill. Just go to sleep. Come get me in the morning, okay? I’ve got the suit so I should be stable enough for the night. If you remember last time I didn’t have it when I got home, and I made it home didn’t I?”

_”Yes, and you were nearly destabilized by the time you got home.”_

Ava huffed, “I’m fine, Bill. I’ve got the suit, and I’m not a little girl anymore. I can handle a night away from home.”

Another sigh from the other end, _“Alright. Fine. I’ll be there no later than 11 tomorrow morning. Call and tell me the address in the morning. Goodnight Ava. Sweet dreams.”_

“Goodnight Bill. You too.” Ava said as she hung up, “You okay to help me out of this, James?”

Her question was answered by the feeling of her suit being unzipped and loosening around her. Like last time, she was wearing a thin, baggy, grey shirt and black leggings.

“Ah...” she sighed, “That’s better. It’s too tight in that thing.”

“I think you’ve got one or two too many fasteners on this. Might as well just have a deadbolt lock. Might be simpler.” James joked as he helped her slowly get her injured arm out of her sleeve. 

“Well, when you’re designing a suit that is meant to keep the person alive, you tend to pull all the stops.” She pointed out.

“Didn’t stop the knife.”

Ava scoffed, “Well, that’s why you’re here now. Or rather that’s why I’m here. To be healed by you.”

“Oh? Is that all I am now?” James mockingly put a hand to his chest and gasped, then raised the other hand and brought the back of it to his forehead, “Is that all I am to you?”

Ava joined in on the joke, barely keeping her laughter at bay, “You are no more than a lowly middle classmen.” She pushed her English accent to an unrealistic level, “I am nobility. I am Royalty.”

James grabbed a lamp, raising it into the air above his head and exclaiming, “Viva la revolution!”

Ava couldn’t hold back anymore, and burst out laughing, not caring about any pain she felt with every breath.

James wasn’t much better, nearly wheezing on the floor as he laughed. 

_*THUMP THUMP THUMP*_

Three loud knocks came from James’ ceiling. They were keeping his neighbours up apparently. 

“Sorry!” He called as Ava slowly got her laughter under control. He looked at her, quieting himself down as well, “You’re gonna get me in trouble with you being that loud.”

Ava gave him a look that said, ‘Who? Me?’

He rolled his eyes, “Okay, you gotta get some sleep. Sleeping is part of healing... or something like that.”

Ava smiled, “Alright, James. Thank you again.”

“No problem. Happy I could help.” He told her as he helped her into a laying down position rather than sitting up. Turning off the the light, he closed the door behind him as he left, “Goodnight, Ghost Girl.”

“Goodnight, Medical Man.” She called back. James smiled at the new title, walking out into the living room to settle himself on the couch.


	5. A ‘Giant’ Change

Ava woke up the next morning very stiff. She didn’t want to try and move her right leg too much, and could barely move her left arm at all. 

_’Great. There go missions for another few weeks.’_

Looking around a bit, she found a set of crutches leaning against the bedside table, with a small note taped to them.

_Thought these might come in handy when you woke up. -J_

She smiled, but the next fifteen minutes were filled with muffled cursing as she tried to sit up and get to the edge of the bed in order to use the damn things.

Eventually she’d somehow gotten more tangled in the blankets than she had been before. She huffed, “James!”

James burst into the room in seconds, “What’s up? What happened?” His eyes locked into Ava’s very tangled form in his sheets, a distressed look on her face threatening to give way to one of laughter. He covered his mouth to stop her from seeing him laugh himself.

“Help.” She requested.

He nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “I will, but first...”

_*click*_

James phone made a noise as he took a photo of Ava’s current state.

“Hey!” She half laughed, half exclaimed. 

“You’re gonna want to see that when I get you out of this.”

Ten minutes later, Ava was free and James was questioning how she’d gotten so stuck that one of the sheets had been tied in a knot around her ankle.

“Do you want breakfast?” He asked after putting that mystery to the back of his mind to figure out later. Ava nodded.

Instead of letting her use the crutches like he’d initially meant to, he decided to scoop her up in his arms and carry her out into the living room, gently placing her down on the couch.

She scowled playfully, “I can walk y’know.”

James didn’t even look back as he opened his fridge door, “No. You can hop with assistance. How do you like your eggs?”

“Sunny side up?”

“Uh... alright. I mean, I’ve never tried that, but how hard could it be?”

————————————————————————

The answer to his rhetorical question was apparently: “Very”

It was very hard for James to make sunny side up eggs for Ava. To illustrate this fact, she was now at the table enjoying her eggs, scrambled. 

James sat opposite to her, egg in his hair and on his face, staring at the table and questioning his existence as a human being.

Behind him were four frying pans in the sink, two empty cartons of eggs in the trash, and a receipt for one of the cartons that he had to go and buy...

“They’re really not that bad.” Ava told him through a mouthful of eggs.

James kept staring at the table, “How did I manage that...?”

“I honestly don’t know. But I think getting the second carton was a little bit overkill.”

He chuckled.

“Tell me about your article. How’s that coming?” She asked, scooping the last of her breakfast into her mouth.

James grabbed his computer, pulling up the document, “Things have changed a little bit recently, with Captain America going on the run a couple days ago, so I’ve sorta shifted my focus. Instead of being solely about the heroes themselves, the article is going to be on the things that brought on the creation of the Accords as well. Namely, the destruction that is caused whenever the Avengers or whoever take on a foe.”

_*beep*_

James’ phone went off in his pocket. He kept talking as he grabbed it, “Now, it might be a bit harder to spin that in a way that is neutral to both sides but I should...” He looked at his phone, and his voice fell flat, “... be able... to... oh boy.”

Ava leaned over to try and see what had come onto the screen, “What? What’s wrong?”

James showed her the screen. A new notification had come up from a news app on his phone:

**Breaking News:**  
_LIVE: Avengers Brawl in Leipzig Airport_

“Please be fake news. Please be fake news.” James dropped his phone on the table, running to the TV, turning it on and switching to the channel whose app had notified him.

Unfortunately, it was real. The Avengers were duking it out on the tarmac of the international airport in Leipzig. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, with all their destruction and mayhem, it turned out that they were fighting _EACH OTHER?!_

James buried his face in his hands, mumbling to himself, “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“How bad is it?” Ava asked, not quite getting the full scale of what this meant.

James looked at the screen again, being more analytical rather than emotional, “It isn’t too, too bad. Destruction is gonna be a big factor on how they spin this, but judging by how they’re fighting and how they seem to be teamed up, something tells me they’re differing on a touchy subject. So really all they have to do to smooth this over is...”

James trailed off as the camera panned, and San Francisco’s very own Ant-man was on screen. Most of the time people couldn’t see him because of whatever allowed him to shrink, be it powers, tech, magic, whatever. But now he was very easy to notice. Because he was about 60 feet tall and tearing the wing off of an airplane. 

“That seems like it could be harder to smooth over...” Ava commented softly.

James just stared in shock at the screen. Months of dedication and research poured into his article with the intention of making people think twice about the Accords. All down the drain in a matter of minutes. 

“This has to be about something that’s not in the news. Or something I haven’t seen. The Avengers would not just start fighting each other for no reason. And they wouldn’t just bring in Ant-man, or the guy in the catsuit, or... was that Spider-Man?”

The Wall-Crawler Of New York was swinging around the airfield as well, taking on the now giant Ant-man and even Captain America himself. 

_*beep*_

James’ phone beeped. He kept talking as he got up to retrieve it from the table, “This is gonna be a lot tougher. I don’t know if my article will make as big an impact now, but I still think I can at least do something.”

He looked at his phone, “Bill’s here.”

Ava looked confused, “But I didn’t call him yet?”

“No, I did while you were sleeping. I told him to come around 11 so you could sleep some more.” James told her, typing a quick reply to the professor, “Alright, let’s get you downstairs.” 

“I still need my suit, and my helmet.”

James held up a gift bag, grinning, “All right here. I got you covered.”

Ava smiled, “Well I guess I’m all set then. You trying to get rid of me faster?” She teased as James helped her onto a crutch. 

“Oh no. I’m just trying to make sure you stay alive and don’t fade away into nothing.”

She gave him a look that was half shocked, half confused. 

James nodded like he was confessing something, “Bill told me about your... condition. Not too much into detail, but I get the gist of it. So the sooner you get home, the better you’ll feel. Then you’ll be out there doing hero-work again in no time.”

At that, they made their way out of his apartment, and into the elevator going down.


	6. Until Next Time...?

Bill was parked out front. In an old station wagon that looked more than a few years past its prime.

He got out to help Ava into the passenger seat. Once she was settled in he turned to James, “Thank you again, James. For keeping her alive and, from what I can see, happier than she’s been in a while.”

“Like I said, it’s been my pleasure Dr. Foster.” James said, his eyes lingering on Ava for a moment longer, before he turned to face the professor, “She’s good company. And if I didn’t help her, I think the world would be worse off because of it, and not just because we’re always in need of more heroes.”

Bill nodded, offering his hand to James, who shook it. Then Bill got back into his car, starting it up and slowly pulling away from James’ building. Ava gave him a small wave as they drove off, and James returned it.

James watched them drive off, still staring in the direction they’d gone for a few moments even after they were out of sight.

He made his way back up to his apartment, the news story still being covered when he returned. 

The battle was over now. Captain America’s team had lost. Ant-Man was passed out and normal sized on the rubble of the plane wing, and the rest of the team, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Forgestar, were all being rounded up by SWAT teams. Captain America and the Winter Soldier, however, were nowhere to be found. The coverage ended as they were brought to their knees and arrested.

James switched off his TV, staring at the black screen for a few seconds. Catching the reflection of the dishes he created while making Ava’s breakfast, he pushed the Avengers ordeal to the back of his mind and started cleaning up the mess that was his kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you didn’t catch that little bit at the end there, this story takes place in the same AU as my other fics that involve Connor/Forgestar. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! More updates coming soon! 


	7. Less Urgent Care

————— _James_ ————— 

Two and a half weeks went by before James saw Ava again. Well, before he physically saw her. He’d gotten a few texts three days after she’d left:

_“Hey.”_  
_“It’s Ava.”_  
_“I got a phone.”_

James had woken up to that, smiling as he read them. 

In the days since, she’d kept him updated on how she was healing. Sending photos of her arm and leg that were, while still very bruised, useable again.

The next time he saw Ava in person, she knocked on his door. It was just as the sun was setting, the last wisps of orange skyline were disappearing over the horizon. 

_*Knock Knock Knock*_

James didn’t look up from his screen at the sound, “Who is it?”

“It’s Ava.” Her voice came from the other side of the door, and his head snapped up.

Abandoning his laptop, he all but ran to the door and swung it open.

Ava was standing there, in regular clothes this time, holding her left hand. A small trickle of blood flowed through the fingers of her right hand where she was holding. She gave him a small smile, “Hello.”

James brought her inside, getting her to the kitchen island, then going around it to grab one of his first aid kits.

After the first two times, he’d decided it would probably be beneficial to have more than one, so he bought five and put them in various places around his home. Any houseguests that came upon them asked if he was becoming prepared for the apocalypse. He just went along with it. It certainly seemed easier than having to explain that he stitched up a superhuman every so often.

Taking one out from under the sink, he pulled out the rubbing alcohol and cloth.

“You know the drill, lemme see.” He told her, gently moving the hand she was using to cover the cut.

That’s all it really was, a cut. A small, two inch cut on the palm of her hand just under her little finger.

He looked up at her, his eyebrow raised, “Ava, this doesn’t even need stitches. Not even close.”

“Well... y’know, I’m not an expert on this sorta thing. I just wanted to make sure.” She told him, as he was still giving her a skeptical look, “Can you fix me?”

Putting the bottle and cloth back into the kit, he reached in and retrieved a single band-aid. He unwrapped it and placed it on the cut, then he sat back in his chair.

Ava stared at the bandage, and James stared at her.

“Ava...” He finally said after a few excruciatingly long minutes, “What are you doing here?”

Ava got a little flustered, “I told you. I-“

“I know what you told me.” James cut her off, waving away her excuse, “What are you actually doing here?”

Ava looked him in the eyes, then down at the table, “I... wanted to see you...?”

He raised an eyebrow again.

She sighed through her nose, “I’ve been in pain most of my life. Be it emotional, physical, mental... It doesn’t matter, I’ve had it. But...” She looked at him again, then around the room, almost showing it off with her hands, “When I’m here. When you’re around... things don’t seem to hurt as bad... and this...” She lifted her hand up, phasing it in and out of a solid form, “Seems to be more manageable...”

James met her eyes. Their green hue sparkling in the light of the evening sunset. He preferred the vibrant green of Ava’s eyes to the glowing red of the Ghost’s. A small smile played on his lips, then he nodded, getting up from the table, “I’ll let Bill know you’re here. Take a seat on the couch.”

She looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“I’ll tell him that you wanted to stay overnight again. Shouldn’t be that big a deal as long as you’re home tomorrow and he knows where you are.” He told her as he typed into his phone. Pressing ‘send’, he put his phone down on the coffee table and made his way over to the shelves by his TV, “And then we’re going to watch as many movies as you want until you fall asleep. Sound good?”

Ava smiled, nodding quickly, “That sounds great.”

James turned back to her, starting to walk to his kitchen, “Why don’t you pick the first two movies, and I’ll make some popcorn.”

Ava practically leaped from the couch to the shelf, scanning through James collection of DVDs.

A few minutes later, James had a bowl full of popcorn and Ava was sitting on the couch, proudly holding her choices.

“So? What’d ya pick?” James asked as he set the bowl down on the coffee table.

She held up the movies so he could see it, and he grinned when he did:

Ghostbusters 1 & 2.

“You need to stop this. Ghost jokes are supposed to be my thing.” He laughed.

Popping the first movie into the player and turning off the lights, he settled himself on the couch beside Ava, offering her some popcorn as it started.

————————————————————————

The next morning, James opened his eyes to the shining sun of a new morning attempted to breach the curtains of his window. He momentarily forgot why he was waking up on the couch with the menu for Ghostbusters 2 playing on repeat.

Then he remembered Ava coming over. He could feel the weight of her body against his, and the quiet sound of her breathing. Looking down, he half expected to see her sleeping soundly and peaceful looking. 

Instead, her face was smushed against his shoulder. Her mouth hung open, and a trail of drool ran down her chin to where it’d been collecting in a wet spot on his shirt all night. Her hair was stuck to her face in some spots, staticky in others and then some was stuck on James’ face as well.

James grinned, trying to reach his phone from the end table beside the couch without waking the sleeping beauty.

He succeeded, grabbing his phone and unlocking it to the camera. 

_*Click*_

Ava’s eyes fluttered half open, her mouth still ajar, “Huh?”

“Good morning.” James said, quickly hiding his phone under the pillow beside him.

Slowly pushing herself up off him, she hadn’t quite realizing what had happened yet. 

“Mornin...” She mumbled, blinking herself awake, “Whatime is it?”

“Quarter to ten.” James replied, checking the time on his phone to confirm.

Ava’s eyes opened fully, and she took in the scene before her. James with a damp patch on the sleeve of his shirt and his short blonde hair flattened upwards on one side. She looked at her reflection in the coffee table, the smudged makeup, the line of drool still clinging to her chin, and the fact that her hair was sticking in every direction and could’ve probably powered a lightbulb for a few minutes.

She shook her head a little, pulling through what she hoped was the last bit of grogginess for the morning, “I... I don’t remember the last half of Ghostbusters 2...”

“I don’t remember _starting_ Ghostbusters 2.” James told her, laughing quietly. He leaned his head back against the couch. He caught a glimpse of his laptop, still open, “Shit... I gotta plug that in.”

“Oh no... “ She halfheartedly muttered as she yawned, “Did I keep you from working last night?”

James shook his head, scratching the sleep out of his eyes, “No... I tried to work on my Accords thing, but since Captain America broke his team out of jail and disappeared a few days ago, I’ve got nothing. The Accords worked by trying to use the Avengers as a template, but now the Avengers don’t exist. Therefore, my article is moot.”

“Oh...” Ava had a sympathetic tone. She was more awake, and was trying to dry off the wet patch on James’ shirt with her sleeve with little success, “Well, I’m sure you’ll find something else to write about.”

James nodded as his gaze drifted to her. Taking in every detail like it was the first time he’d seen her. Her beautifully darkened skin that seemed to glow in the morning sunlight. How the sound of her laugh brought a warm feeling to his heart, and how she’d trusted him enough to tell him her name and let him see her face after only meeting once before. 

He didn’t notice, but she was staring at him too. The kindness of his smile. The warm feeling of his hands against her skin when he first stitched her up. The gentleness of him when she’d come through his bedroom window. 

The fact that he was willing to drop everything if he thought she needed his help. 

After a moment their eyes met, and they both realized they’d been admiring each other while not even two inches apart on his couch.

“Uhhhh...” James tried to think of an explanation to his staring.

Ava looked away and started to straighten out her hair with her fingers, “I should probably get going. Bill is probably waiting for me.”

Neither one noticed the flush of colour into the other’s cheeks.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah... Yeah you probably... probably should do that...” James tried to form a complete sentence, having a great amount of difficulty doing so. He cleared his throat, “I’ll uh... I’ll walk you out.”

Ava smiled, nodding in thanks.

————————————————————————

They walked in near silence down the hall and into the elevator. 

As they started to descend, James looked at the floor. He was trying to think of something to say, but his ability to think had all but vanished and left him being the anxiety ridden kid from high school. 

_’Think, you idiot! Stop being the terrified little teenager you used to be. You’ve got this.’_ The mental pep talk he gave himself was brief, and not at all helpful. 

While plagued by thought, or rather lack thereof, he noticed the stain. The blood stain that marked their first encounter. It had since faded, but the management for the building was too lazy to clean it up, so it just stayed there. He smiled at the memory, and how he’d not known how much she’d impact his life after that.

_*Ding*_

As they reached the ground floor James’ head snapped up. They walked to the door, and he walked outside with her before they parted ways.

Ava turned to him, a semi-forced smile on her face, “Well, thank you for the great night, and for letting me stay, and also...” she waved her hand that had the band-aid on it. 

James chuckled, where his mind had been blank a few seconds earlier, now it was filled to the brim with too much. 

_’What do I say? What don’t I say? Did she mean for this to be a date? Did it go well? Should I kiss her? No, you idiot, don’t kiss her. She’s probably just being really friendly. Not like she’s going to be here for a while. Is she ever going to come back?’_

His mind being unreliable, he let instinct take over, “Yeah, I had a fun time. We should definitely do this again.”

Her head turned to look at him when he said that, and a real smile crossed her face, “Yeah. Definitely. Um... I’ll text you.”

“Or I could text you.” 

“Yeah. Definitely. Either way works.”

They stood in silence on the sidewalk for a moment more, their words echoing through their heads. 

James rocked back and forth on his heels, “Definitely...”

Ava seemed entranced by the ground. She shook her head suddenly, clearing her thoughts, “I should be going. Uh, thanks again. I’ll text you or you text me... we’ll figure it out.” She said as she started to walk away backwards. She gave a small wave and a smile, “Bye.”

James returned the gestures, “See ya later, Slimer.”

She scrunched up her face in confusion. He simply pointed to his shoulder, which still had a wet spot from her sleeping on him.

Her cheeks flushed as she understood the joke, holding back a laugh.

James imitated her face as she was sleeping, his mouth hanging open as he exaggerated the sound of her snoring.

Both of them laughed, then Ava turned around to walk forward down the road, giving another wave.

He watched as she walked away, waiting until she’d disappeared around a corner to go back inside. 

He got back to his apartment, closing the door behind him, and sinking to the floor with his back against it. He put his face in his hands, “Ugh... that was pathetic...”

_*Ding*_

His head whipped up at the sound of his phone going off across the room on the coffee table. 

He got to his feet and went to get it, finding a notification for a text from Ava. She’d sent him a picture.

He opened it, and laughed aloud at the contents:

It was a picture of him from last night, asleep on the couch. His head was leaned back and tilted a bit towards her, and his mouth hung open slightly. She’d gotten herself in the photo as well, obviously mid-giggle from her expression. 

Another text came in:

_You fell asleep before the first one ended. Felt like too good of an opportunity to pass up on it._

James smiled at the photo, saving it to his phone. He pulled the one he’d taken up, and quickly set it as his contact photo for Ava, being sure to zoom in very close to her face for the perfect centring.

He admired the picture for a moment longer before clicking off his screen and starting to clean his apartment from the previous night’s endeavours.


	8. Change of Scenery

Less than a week passed before James saw Ava again, and that pattern continued for quite some time. The two of them set up movie nights at his apartment almost once a week, sometimes a bit longer depending on if Ava was on a mission or not.

Then, out of the blue, the dynamic changed slightly. James was all for it, loving that there could be a change of pace.

Ava, however, was more cautious about it, and that was probably for good reason. 

This time it was at her house. Bill had suggested the idea, and James saw no harm that could come from it. 

Now that’s where he was now, pulling up to the secluded house in the forest in the car he’d recently bought in an effort to make Ava’s trek to his building a bit less tiring.

As he got out of the car, the lights out front didn’t turn on, and the property was almost entirely dark aside from the dim lights coming from inside.

_’Oh yeah, this isn’t spooky at all.’_ He thought to himself as he approached the door, _’Definitely fitting for someone who calls herself Ghost.’_

He hadn’t even made it to the front steps when Ava flickered into existence to his left. He didn’t notice her at first, giving her full opportunity to scare him half to death.

And did she ever.

“BOO!”

James jumped, letting out a yelp as he almost fell over, “AH! What the fu-“ he paused as he realized who it was and what had happened. He started laughing, as did she, “Ava. Holy shit, you scared the hell outta me.”

“Sorry.” She managed between laughs, “I couldn’t help it.”

James shook his head, still laughing almost as hard, “You’ve moved on from classic ghost things to jump scares now, huh? Well at least you know that if this whole superhero thing doesn’t work out, you could always just star in horror movies” he wiped a tear from his eye. Whether it was from laughing or her scaring him, he wasn’t sure, “Someone better call that demon nun. Tell her she’s got some competition.”

Ava’s laugh seemed to momentarily falter when he said “superhero”, but it was back in an instant. James decided that his brain must’ve just been imagining things.

She motioned to the door, “C’mon. Bill and I have been waiting for you for ages.”

James chuckled, holding up a bag he’d gotten on his way there, “I had to get snacks. Can’t have a movie night without M&Ms and chips to go with the popcorn.”

Ava giggled, then vanished into thin air again. James smiled, looking around as he walked up to the front door, in case she tried to scare him again, “I’m not falling for that twice, hon. You are not gonna pull a Beetlejuice on me.”

The front door swung open suddenly, and James jumped again, but didn’t make any noise as Ava held it open, “Shouting into the dark in the middle of the woods? That’s a good way to make people think you’re crazy.” She held her arms out, waiting for a hug. 

James rolled his eyes good heartedly, stepping through the door and embracing her, “Crazy might explain a few things.”

Ava looked up at him, “Looks like you fell for it again, didn’t you?”

“I definitely fell for something.” James said, freeing himself from Ava’s hug to take his shoes off, _’Or someone.’_

Ava led him into the house, to where Bill was trying to set up a really old TV to a much newer DVD player.

“Hello, James.” He greeted, not turning to face him, “Did you get lost?”

James put his bag of snacks on the coffee table, “Hey, Doctor Foster. No, I didn’t get lost. Just wanted to get some movie night essentials.”

Ava grabbed the bag, pulling out the chips and holding them above her head, “He has brought the sacred ambrosia! Tonight, we feast!” Then she ran into the kitchen giggling.

James raised a brow, looking to Bill as he turned around, “Ambrosia?”

Bill shrugged, “She’s been interested in mythology as of late. Though I’m not sure how much accuracy comes from Lord of the Rings.”

James smiled, “Well as long as she doesn’t go on a quest to Mount Doom, we should be fine.”

Ava’s over-enthusiastic cackling came from inside the kitchen, “The one ring must be destroyed!”

Bill sighed, “She may have also drank a box of sodas before I got home.”

“A box? Doctor Foster, is she going to be okay?” James asked, his eyes widening.

Bill nodded, “Oh, yes. It shouldn’t last too long. Her metabolism is extraordinarily fast. She’ll just be hyper for the next half hour or so.” He looked to James, “And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Bill?”

James chuckled, “Sorry, Bill.” He said, putting emphasis as he corrected himself.

The two went to the kitchen where Ava had disappeared to, hoping to find her not munching on the chips already, but very well aware that it might’ve already started.

——————————————

Bill had been right about Ava’s energy levels. Not even half an hour later she was back to normal, cracking jokes and trying her best to beat James at making puns, all at a reasonable volume.

They’d let Bill pick which movie they watched, and he’d chosen _The Matrix_.

James had seen it before, but Ava hadn’t. He enjoyed her almost childlike gasps when she was in awe of the way the digital world worked, all the while with her tucked under his arm.

She especially liked when Agent Smith dodged bullets and left an afterimage, “Hey, it’s like when I phase. Except I don’t need to move, the bullets just pass through me.”

James blinked at her statement, looking down at her. Her eyes still fixated on the movie. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the fact that her job involved regularly getting shot at. Or at least not any time soon.

Soon the movie ended and they sat through the second one, not enjoying it nearly as much as the first, as evident by Ava falling asleep cuddled up next to James. Bill had also dozed off in his chair, his head down and his glasses fallen off his face.

James gently lifted Ava up off the couch, carrying her to the chamber where she slept and stabilized. He set her down in her bed, causing her to stir a tiny bit. She didn’t say anything, she just grabbed onto James’ arm, bringing him down and onto her bed before cuddling up next to him again.

James just laid there for a few moments and stared at the ceiling until Ava shifted and laid partially on top of him, mumbling as she made herself comfortable, “You’re horrible at cuddling.”

James laughed quietly, wrapping one arm underneath her and around her waist. She turned her head and nuzzled into his neck, and he could feel her breathing steady as she drifted off to sleep.

Soon after, he joined her, slowly closing his eyes as the soft hum of the chamber coupled with the soothing sound of Ava’s breathing lulled him to sleep.


	9. The “Dad Talk”

The next morning, James woke up earlier than Bill and Ava.

Ava had hardly moved in the night, having apparently found the most comfortable position to stay in.

James on the other hand was a little sore. He’d slept fine, it was just waking up that was that hard part. Because of the fact that Ava hadn’t moved, neither had he, in an effort to not wake her up. So all night he was on his back, facing the ceiling.

Slowly freeing himself from being underneath her, he slipped out of the chamber, cracking his back when he shut the door again.

After a quick trip to the kitchen for some water, he’d started making his way back to the chamber to try and get some more sleep, when Bill’s voice from behind him got his attention.

“James.” He said quietly, and James turned around. He was already dressed and looked like he was ready for work, despite it being a Saturday. He beckoned for James to follow, “May I speak to you for a moment?”

James looked back at the chamber where Ava was still sleeping soundly, then back to Bill, “Uh, yeah sure.”

He followed Bill into another room, accepting a seat when he was offered one. Bill sat opposite to him, letting out a sigh, like he didn’t want to have the conversation that he was about to start, or that he didn’t know where to begin.

He sat for a minute, then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, “Ava, as you may have guessed, is like my daughter. She’s not actually, but she’s the closest thing I’ve had to a family of my own. So I care about her wellbeing very much...”

James nodded, “So do I. Believe me, I do.”

“Then there are some things you should know, if you are planning to move forward with her.”

James smiled, “Other than the fact that I’d be dating a superhero?”

Bill pointed at him, “That’s part one of them. She’s not a superhero.”

James let out a nervous laugh, “What do you mean?”

“She’s not a superhero. She doesn’t save people, she doesn’t rescue cats from trees or people from burning buildings or fight lawbreakers.” Bill explained, waving his hands to try and express his point, “She is on a mission, rather _we_ are on a mission. To save her. Her condition is... more severe than I originally led you to believe. Her cells are in a constant state of destabilization, and eventually, if we don’t find a way to cure her, she will disappear completely.”

This wasn’t exactly all new for James. Bill had given him a rundown of Ava’s condition when she’d gone to his apartment the second time, “So then, what are you doing to try and cure her?”

Bill sighed, leaning back into his chair, “She’s been breaking into secure labs and advanced facilities, and stealing the technology that I need to make something that can help her. I just... I haven’t figured it out yet.”

James sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in the new information, then his gaze moved back to Bill from the floor, “Alright. What else do I need to know?”

Bill straightened his glasses before continuing, “She used to be at SHIELD, with me. That’s how I met her was through them. I was sent to go investigate.”

“SHIELD or Hydra?” James interrupted, remembering what he’d read when he’d decrypted some of the files that’d been released to the public when both had fallen.

Bill shook his head, “I’m not sure I could tell you the difference between the two to be honest. My point is that Ava was used as a weapon. They said they would try and cure her, but they lied straight to her face. So, when they fell I took her with me, and I tried to make good on their manipulative promise for real.”

The word ‘weapon’ hung in James’ mind as Bill finished talking, “What do you mean, ‘weapon’? What did they make her do?”

Bill sighed again, taking his glasses off and rubbing the corners of his eyes, “They made her hurt people. She killed, she spied, she stole... she did it because she was desperate to stay alive, but she feels the guilt of what she did every single day...”

James covered his mouth, equal parts horrified by the acts that Ava committed and enraged by the organization that made her do it.

“So, now that you know this information, I need to know something from you.” Bill added, and James’ eyes lifted from the floor to meet his, “Are you going to continue on the path you are currently on with Ava? Because she trusts you. You have made her so much happier since you came into her life, and for that I thank you. But if you do decide to stay, there is no turning back. This is a ‘Red Pill/Blue Pill’ situation. You are either in, and you stay in, or you are out, and you never contact Ava or me again, do I make myself clear?”

James nodded, “Crystal.”

Bill crossed his arms, “Then what’s your decision, James?”

James looked out the door, taking in the image of Ava’s sleeping form. How at peace she looked, despite the chaotic bedhead-hair she was sporting. 

How could he ever even think of leaving her?

He turned back to Bill, “I’m not going anywhere. The things that she did wasn’t her, it was the people manipulating her actions. I won’t hold it against her for wanting to stay alive.”

A smile crossed Bill’s face slowly, and he nodded, “Good.” Then his expression went serious again, “On top of all that, I shouldn’t have to tell you what happens if you have even a notion of hurting her. I may not be as spry as I used to be, but I’m still a former SHIELD agent. Clear?”

James nodded, though he was less intimidated by Bill than the older man had probably meant for him to be. He knew that if he screwed up in any way, shape or form, that Ava was more than capable of handling it herself.

But he’d never do anything like that anyway, “You don’t have to worry, Bill. She means just as much to me as she does to you. Neither one of you have anything to worry about.” He smiled, “I think I found Ava in that alley for a reason. And I don’t know if I believed in fate before, but...” he looked back at her still sleeping form in the chamber once again. She’d shifted so she was now facing him, a blissful smile on her face as she dreamed, “I certainly do now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve undergone a bit of rebranding as you can see. You can now find me on IG:  
> @The_Heroes_Time_Forgot  
> Follow me on there and you’ll be kept up to date on anything that I post. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading, and enjoy!


	10. Never As Easy As It Seems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for bearing with me on my long-ass hiatus from this story. XD
> 
> I’m probably gonna have to watch the movie again before I can write something else that fits properly, *but* I hope you enjoy this, and it satisfies your cravings until I’m able to get something else out.
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> -THTF

“Ow... Ow... Ow! James!” Ava’s yelp forced James to pause his stitching, and earned her what was probably a disapproving look from him.

She couldn’t tell, her eyes were closed because the cut was above her eye.

“I know it hurts, but if you just stop moving, I’d be able to get this done so much faster.” She scrunched up her face, and held back the snappy comment she’d thought of. She nodded, trying to keep still as he started again, despite feeling the prick of the needle in her skin again.

“Thank you.” She said quietly. She felt him pause his work and his lips press against her forehead for a brief moment.

“It’s the least I could do. Literally, this has been the only thing I’m good for in terms of your missions.” He joked, and she kept herself from laughing, “Honestly, I’m still not sure how you can make bullets pass through you effortlessly, but you managed to get hit in the face with a wooden plank.”

At that, she let out a tiny giggle, “I told you. I was so focused on getting into the safe, I didn’t see the guy with the board.”

She heard him cut the thread for her stitching, and was finally able to open her eyes. She reached up, feeling at the now closed gash, “Thank you, again, James.”

He smiled, wiping blood off his fingers, “Of course, Ava.” He looked down for a moment, then his grin widened, “And look at that. You didn’t repaint _this_ couch with your blood. I’m starting to get the feeling that you just didn’t like my sense of style.”

She laughed, “Well, it was god-awful. I have no idea what you expected when you bought a white sofa. It’s like you didn’t even know that you’d bring home a girl who’d been stabbed.”

He sat down on the couch next to her, placing a hand over where the stab wound had been, nearly half a year ago, “You’re right. I probably had the day circled and everything. Just forgot to check my calendar.”

She lightly slapped his arm, sighing happily at the interactions they’d had since that day. They may not have all been because of positive circumstances, but they all led up to them being here.

And that in itself made her happy.

She leaned sideways so she rested her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapping itself around her as they both sat back on the couch.

For a few minutes they stayed like that, her tucked underneath his arm, enjoying the feeling of him beside her and vice versa.

She looked up at him, their proximity having emboldened her to some extent.

In one motion, she pushed herself up to his face, quickly embracing his lips with her own.

She’d heard somewhere “It’s all downhill after the first kiss”. But she respectfully disagreed. She was fairly certain that that only counted if you were kissing someone who _hadn’t_ been your personal medic half a dozen times already.

Her right hand found a spot on his chest, and leaned on it for support, while the other cupped the side of his face.

She’d never kissed anyone before, (To be fair, she’d been sort of dying since she was about eight. Not exactly the best mindset to have if she’d wanted that), but this felt right. This felt like she was with the one person who she’d been meant to kiss all along.

She heard his breath hitch, and his lips stopped moving in time with hers. She smiled, thinking she’d done something right. As she opened her eyes however, she saw that the opposite was the unfortunate truth.

She’d phased through him. Her fingers had passed into the side of his face, and her other hand had sunk into his chest.

James looked like he was being electrocuted, he gasped for breath that would not come and twitched from the feeling of her fingers quite literally in his mind.

Quickly, she all but jumped backwards off of him, being sure not to solidify before she’d moved.

James pulled in a gasp of air, coughing as he rolled off the couch and onto the floor.

Ava rushed to his side, “James! James, are you alright?! I’m so sorry! I- I dunno! I thought I had it under control and that it was safe, but I-I... I don’t... I’m so sorry!”

James reached up with one unsteady hand, closing his fingers over hers and squeezing, “I’m alright... I’m alright. I just need to catch my breath.”

Ava pulled away, afraid that she’d hurt him again. She looked at her hands, seeing them shift in and out of solid form before her eyes. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been phasing, _‘Why didn’t I feel it? I can feel it now. Why not then?’_

She had to get to the energy chamber. Keep herself solid until Bill got home. Maybe he knew what was going on.

“I’m sorry, James. I-... I have to go.”

James was up on his knees, sitting up somewhat straight as his body recovered, “Ava, wait. Ava-“

“Bill will be home soon.” She said finally, then forced herself to disappear, knowing that he was less likely to follow if he didn’t know where she was going. She ran to the chamber, locking herself inside.


End file.
